Vinyl Sales Make History in 2016
After a steady nine-year rise in revenue, vinyl sales in the U.K. surpassed three million for the first time in 2016 since 1991. The British Phonographic Industry, or BPI, released its annual market report showing that vinyl sales in the U.K. spiked more than 53% over the previous year (and over 500% since 2013), totaling more than 3.2 million vinyl records sold in 2016. The BPI noted that seven of the top 10 best-selling albums slots belonged to UK acts, including Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, and Amy Winehouse. The best-selling vinyl record by far was David Bowie’s Blackstar, which more than doubled the sales of 2015’s top contender, Adele’s 25. To top off all these record feats, 2016 was the first year in UK history that vinyl records outsold digital downloads, an incredible accolade when you consider that in 2016 at least 30 albums sold 10,000 vinyl copies each while back in 2007, 200,000 LPs were sold overall. (FACT Mag)
Run-DMC Sets Out to Take Back What’s Theirs
Run-DMC have filed a $50 million lawsuit against retailers including Walmart, Jet, and Amazon for selling merchandise bearing the rap group’s logo without legal permission. Run-DMC founder Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, who owns the firm Run-DMC Brand, says these items include wallets, hats, T-shirts, sunglasses, you name it, and have earned the retailers over $100 million in authorized merchandise since the 1980s, but Run-DMC is determined to reclaim its own brand. (The Guardian)
-Taylor Wallace
